Isolation
by CrystalMaiden77
Summary: After Tails was stranded in a parallel dimension with no people, he was delighted after weeks of loneliness to find his irritable evil twin Miles and convince him to live with him. Forced to take care of each other from having no one else, how will their alliance survive? And how long will Tails' patience last?
1. Chapter 1

After getting his hands on all of the Chaos Emeralds and Sol Emeralds, Eggman announced to the Freedom Fighters his plan to use his new dimensional transporter to travel to the first new dimension he found and take it over. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles immediately stormed his base to stop him, and prevented him from using it by fighting and defeating armies of his robots until they reached the room where Eggman told them the transporter was. But just as the battle ended, Tails was grabbed by one of the robots on Eggman's order, and trapped in the dimensional transporter just before everyone could destroy it. " What?! No! " Tails exclaimed in panic upon being grabbed by a metallic hand attached to a long metal arm, thrown inside the small white transporter and having the transparent glass doors shut in front of him.

As Tails banged on the glass in desperation, Eggman exclaimed, " Yes! It's just as I planned! You've fallen right into my trap! I'm going to send you to a parallel dimension where a creature similar to the Time Eater had caused everyone in it to disappear! It's a dimension devoid of people, a dimension where months inside of it are equal to days back home, where no one will be around to help you and you'll never disrupt my plans again! After I send you away, I'm destroying the transporter to keep you there! I should've done this years ago! " With Sonic and Knuckles panicked for his safety but too occupied with fighting a powerful robot to do anything about it, Tails screamed, " Sonic! " as he was sent away in a flash of light.

The flash of light went away and he was dropped onto a grassy field in the middle of a completely empty suburban neighborhood. Just like that, Tails was trapped in an alternate Mobius all alone, with nobody around to run or supply the stores or keep the electricity grid working.

He ended up learning that he would have to " steal " from the now empty stores to get everything he needed to live comfortably, from essentials like food to building materials, and ended up building himself a small house just outside the silent and empty neighborhood in a large empty field. That house had self-maintaining indoor heating, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, a water supply for the washroom and everything that he needed to make it comfortable, with one bedroom with a bed in it for himself, a living room with a couch and a TV and DVD Player he found, a kitchen full of dishes, a working fridge, and cooking implements that he found, and even a washer and dryer for his clothes and a dishwasher. His house was built to have a fully-stocked laboratory in a workshop near it, full of tools, chemicals, and metal for building. He decided to name the dimension he was trapped in, " Empty Mobius, " cursing his lack of originality.

Tails built self-sustained electricity generators for all of the buildings that he needed to continue having power, like all the grocery stores in his general area so that all the food in it wouldn't rot. This would ensure he would have an ample food supply for at least a couple of months without having to resort to farming, hunting and gathering to stay alive, the middle of which he wasn't exactly comfortable doing when he was a nature lover. Throughout all of his hard work at making the world into a place he would be able to survive in alone, Tails felt a triumphant sense of independence, pride and gratitude at his engineering talent that he never had before.

At first, Tails had to focus on all of that engineering, so he wasn't able to focus on how alone he was. But after he had been in isolation for an entire week, the prolonged loneliness started getting to him and gradually breaking him down, getting him more and more stressed out and depressed as the days went by with no sign of rescue. He started worrying that he was never going to get home, that his assumption that Sonic would be able to force Eggman to build a new transporter to get him home was false, and that he'd have to learn to build one himself. But he had no idea how to get back home when he had no idea where he even was in relation to home, and no idea of how to build such a device without both the Chaos and Sol Emeralds in the first place. He also couldn't find out where his current dimension's emeralds were when he'd need to have an emerald from it to build an emerald locater in the first place. But he was so desperate to get home that he became obsessed with trying to do it anyways.

This desperation combined with his need to distract himself from his loneliness meant he fixated on it to the point where all of his efforts at it were at the expense of his health. He often forgot to eat meals or deliberately skipped them, didn't bother to take baths or even showers, didn't comb his hair or brush his teeth, and would stay up incredibly late into the night or even pull all-nighters until he passed out in his lab because he didn't want to stop working on his project. He focused so much on engineering to distract from the loneliness, doing things like sending a satellite into space to try to figure out how far away he was from his own dimension, that he severely neglected his health.

After three months in Empty Mobius time had passed, Tails had begun to take on the look of a mad scientist from being so unkempt; he had messy hair, various grease stains scattered around his body, a small labcoat he made himself full of pockets with a temperature modulator in its lining, and was skinny, in a similar manner to when he was living on Cocoa Island as a three-year-old desperately searching for food on an island that hunted him down, barely getting anything to eat, not that he even remembered that far back. He still acted like himself, being a cheerful child smiling and giggling a lot, but it was usually forced, a mask to hide his anxiety, loneliness, depression, and increasing insecurity and despair. He had reached the point where he would do anything to have someone to talk to.

On a week that seemed to have an unusual spike in thunderstorms that his weather satellite suspiciously failed to predict, Tails was flying over a grassy meadow full of flowers, hills and various scattered boulders, headed to the grocery store yet again, when he sighed melancholically. " I'm getting tired of seeing the same old scenery over and over again! Maybe I should fly to the other side of the mountain for a change of pace. " Tails said, talking to himself as he had done before he met Sonic when he had no one else to carry on a conversation with. He flew towards the small rocky mountain and around to the other side of it, and was slightly satisfied at seeing new scenery below him. But his satisfaction was soon turned into shock when he noticed what was near the bottom of the mountain.

" _Anti-Tails?!_ " Tails thought, with a mixture of emotions rushing through him as he stopped flying forwards to stare down at his evil counterpart sitting on the grassy ground picking berries from a forest bush wearing a brown backpack. He was worried and intimidated, remembering how he had always been unable to beat him in a fight, and worrying about what would become of him if they got into a fight in a world with no one running the hospitals and clinics. But all of his fear and anxiety was overshadowed by the overwhelming joy, relief and excitement at finally being able to have someone to talk to. He was surprised and confused about Miles being there and wondered about the full story behind it, but since he wasn't likely to fully divulge the answers to his old enemy, Tails accepted the possibility that he wouldn't learn the answer until later, and instead landed on the ground near him and happily ran up to him to talk to him.  
" Miles! " Tails ran up to his evil counterpart happily calling out his name, causing him to turn around in surprise and look at him in confusion. " Hi! " Tails said in relief and excitement, as Miles looked back at him stunned for a second in disbelief. " Tails, why are you… " Miles replied with his eyes widened, before crossing his arms and looking suspicious and annoyed. Before he could say anything else, Tails continued,

" Boy, am I glad to see you! I've been trapped in this world for months! I didn't think there was anyone else here! Oh, what a relief! How'd you get here? " There was a silence, which made Tails uncomfortable. " Miles? " he said unhappily, feeling intimidated as Miles stared at him with a suspicious look.

" Why would you be interested in that? " Miles said skeptically. Feeling like his efforts at kindness were being shot down and would continue to be, Tails pressed on regardless, desperate to convince him to stay with him at all costs. If that meant being nice to him in the face of consistent irritation and distrust, until he finally broke past his defenses and got him to warm up to him, that was just what he was going to do.

" I'm sorry, I'm… just trying to make conversation. Thought it'd be a good ice breaker, you know? " Tails said sadly, getting fidgety and uncomfortable. " Ice breaker? " Miles said, still confused and bewildered. " Yeah, " Tails replied, nervously scratching the back of his neck. Trying to treat him like his friend again, Tails explained, " I got sent here by Dr. Eggman. He said this was a place where all the people disappeared and the passage of time was different, so months here are only days back home. That'd explain why my friends haven't been able to rescue me yet. "

" Either that or your Rotor simply isn't capable of getting you back, " Miles remarked, looking away from him in disdain, which made him even more unhappy than before. Trying to pretend he didn't hear that discouraging remark, Tails said hopefully, " Are you sure you don't wanna tell me how you got sent here? D-Do you have a globe post with you by any chance? " " No, " Miles answered in annoyance.

" C-Can you make one? " Tails asked with a desperate smile. " If I could simply make one, my associates wouldn't have needed to steal them, " Miles retorted, still avoiding his gaze. " Besides, I do not care about building things, remember? I don't know what your problem is with a world without people. To me, it's the ideal place to reside! Far less troublesome… " Miles replied, and said under his breath resentfully, " And far less dangerous… "

" Won't it get lonely, though? I mean, there's a reason solitary confinement is used as a punishment and works! " Tails said nervously, wondering just how antisocial his evil twin really was. " Because the victim has nothing to do? If he possessed books or a television, I'm sure he wouldn't even notice, " Miles replied, faltering uneasily at the start before speaking condescendingly for the second sentence.

" How long have you been here? " Tails asked him, wondering if he had only been sent there very recently to be okay with being alone. " W-Why do you want to know? " Miles questioned with a nervous tone and a resentful expression to hide it. " I-I'm just curious, Miles. There's nothing to worry about. I know you don't think of me as a friend, so I don't blame you for not wanting to tell me things. If you don't wanna talk about it, that's okay. I just thought it'd be better for us to have something to talk about instead of there being nothing but awkward silences between us, " Tails said with a nervously forced smile.

" What are you talking about? What are you planning?! " Miles questioned, paranoid and anxious. Realizing he was probably on a time limit, Tails decided to try to get out his request as fast as possible while still being persuasive. " I wanna make a deal. I know you'd like to live alone, but there are advantages to having someone around who's willing to help you! " Tails said sadly.

" I-I don't need anyone's help! I can survive on my own! I lived by myself for a long time before this and I don't need anyone's help! " Miles shouted with an angry expression and fists clenched, with his stammering and shaking giving his anxiety away. Tails exclaimed frantically, " But what if you get hurt?! What if you get really sick?! What if you break your leg and can't get any food or water for yourself?! No matter how careful someone tries to be, they're going to get incapacitated eventually! There's no avoiding it no matter how hard you try! I need you, Miles!... And if something happens to you, you'll need me! I'm not trying to insult you or anything like that! I'm trying to make a deal. It'll increase our chances of survival. Please! Come live with me! I've got a workshop right next to my house so it's quick and convenient for me to get to, my house has indoor heating and air conditioning and indoor plumbing and a water supply for baths and stuff, it's the only house in the entire world still like that, Miles! Anything you need, I'll give you! Please! " Tails was begging him to live with him by the end, and Miles was struck speechless, looking sad and conflicted the whole time.

There was a silence, and Miles, still with his arms crossed, avoided his pleading look awkwardly, with his expression of irritation proven a mask by his eyes nervously darting all over the place and his boots tapping the grassy ground and fidgeting. He must have been finding his deal very tempting. Tails said with a genuine smile full of hope, " Do you have a home of your own?... 'Cause I'll move there if you want. " After another brief silence, Miles replied reluctantly, " No, I do not… " with a sighing voice.

" You can feel free to think of our alliance in whatever way you like to make it easier on you. If you don't wanna call me your friend, you can call me your servant! Whatever makes it easier to adjust to! As long as we're helping each other survive, that's all that matters to me. I'm just happy to have your company, " Tails said cheerfully.

There was another silence. " This does sound compelling… " Miles admitted reluctantly, before turning to face him at last and saying, " Deal. You can be my servant. My assistant who will take care of me in my hour of need… " Tails smiled, full of relief. " Although right now, you don't even seem to be capable of taking care of yourself. You certainly require some fixing up first, " Miles continued in his more expected sarcastic manner.

" What do you mean?! " Tails said unhappily. " What do you mean, ' what do you mean?! ' You have bags under your eyes, your hair is unkempt, you're covered in spots of grease, you're all skin and bones and haven't had a bath in days! If not weeks. And you need your teeth cleaned. " Miles ranted at him disapprovingly, sounding almost frantic in how quickly he spoke. " Do I really look that awful? " Tails said in a sad and insecure tone, looking ashamed with his head hung low.

There was a brief silence as Tails inwardly insulted himself for being too focused on engineering to care about his personal hygiene, only for that train of thought to be interrupted when Miles exclaimed at him, " No! " in a tone that was shockingly sympathetic. This immediately snapped Tails to his attention and caused him to catch him with a worried and remorseful look on his face, before he could cross his arms again and look away in irritation once more. Tails was dumbfounded. Did Miles know how it felt to be ashamed of how he looked? He wouldn't have had that reaction to making him feel that way if he didn't know how it felt himself, so he must have been through that before in order to get some basis for empathy. " I wasn't insulting your appearance… I was informing you that you need taking care of, " Miles explained slowly and awkwardly in a quiet voice full of reluctance, regret and resentment, possibly more with himself than with him.

Miles finally turned to face Tails with his arms at his side and said authoritatively, " First order of business, you need a bath. As soon as you take me to your residence, I'm getting you in there and giving you one myself, because you clearly don't care enough to do an adequate job. N-Now hurry up! Don't dawdle! " stammering at the end awkwardly. Tails said with a nervous smile, " That's alright. We're basically the same person, I-I mean in that we're parallel counterparts and we share the same DNA, so from a biological standpoint, we're identical twin brothers! So it's fine if you do that for me. " Looking away before he could see Miles' reaction to him saying they were basically family, Tails quickly turned around and started leading him across the grassy field on the way to his house. He was still uncomfortable with the idea of what his evil counterpart was insisting on doing, but at the same time, he was so desperate for any kind of affection and care at that point that a part of him looked forward to the prospect of being taken care of by him, causing him to smile.

After a long, uncomfortably quiet walk through the grassy hills to Tails' home, the two twin-tailed foxes finally entered it and made their way into its washroom. " The house needs some serious dusting, " Miles muttered in disatisfaction, which caused Tails to be even more ashamed with his shoulders slumping from the remark. " Sorry, I was in the lab most of the time. Didn't really feel like doing housework… " he apologized quietly, remembering the times he fell asleep on the cold hard floor of his lab or sitting at its table, and he finally began to worry if he should've taken his passing out so frequently as a bad sign.

Miles closed the washroom door behind him, turned on the hot water of the bathtub to make it start filling up, brought down one of the towels to the floor and instructed strictly, " Remove your gloves and footwear and get in there. The other side from where the water's being sent, obviously. That way you'll know the entire time it's filling up if it's at the right temperature or not. " He proceeded to retrieve washcloths from the closet as Tails reluctantly obliged to avoid an argument with his ill-tempered twin. He had to trust him if he was to have his company, and he only hoped his endurance would not run out, because he couldn't imagine going back to being alone after seeing him again.

As Tails waited in the bathtub without his shoes and gloves on and Miles impatiently sat at his side with an empty peanut butter jar, soap, and a liquid soap dispenser nearby, there was another awkward silence. " So did you want to stay in this world? " Tails asked. " W-Why are you asking? " Miles asked him, looking paranoid again. " Because I'm curious about how things have been going for you since we last met, and I don't want an awkward silence the whole time I'm in here. It'd be better if we at least tried to have conversations, after all, " Tails answered. " … Yes, I did, " Miles answered reluctantly after a silence, convinced by his reasoning.

" And you can't get us back? " Tails said unhappily, still confused about why he'd go to a world with no people in it voluntarily. " No. I'm stuck here with you, " Miles answered. Tails was once again offended by him, wondering why he was a bad person to get stuck with to him when he had been nothing but nice to him so far. Trying to avoid getting really upset by dwelling on how it didn't seem fair, Tails instead pushed it to the back of his mind, and asked, " But won't the members of the Suppression Squad be wondering where you went? Why didn't you wanna stay with them? Are you mad at them for something? Did you do it to quit? "

" No! I would _never_ abandon them! They don't deserve that! " Miles exclaimed looking offended, making Tails flinch from his sudden outburst of anger. Trying to stay calm and look unafraid, Tails replied, " T-They must have been great friends, then, " with a forced smile, trembling. Miles immediately looked melancholic, his anger dying away as he seemed to deeply miss them. " They were… They were, " he answered sadly.

Worried about pushing his luck, Tails stayed quiet after that, dwelling on the information he managed to get out of him. Were Alicia, Patch and Boomer really good enough friends to Miles that they earned his genuine loyalty and emotional attachment? Was there a side to them that he never got to see? Miles couldn't have wanted to get separated from them if that was the case, so either he was lying about coming to the dimension of his own accord, or he went there because something happened to them and he no longer felt safe without them around. Tails wanted to know desperately if that was the case, but realized that confronting him over that would be risky and pointless.

Soon, the bathtub had been filled up enough, although for the two foxes in the room, it had felt like an eternity. Miles turned off the water, told Tails, " Close your eyes and mouth and lean your head back, " and after he followed his orders, Miles started washing him at last, gathering water from the bathtub with the large empty peanut butter container and pouring it on the child in front of him, getting his entire body wet.

After doing that, Miles used the liquid soap dispenser to put soap on what Tails noticed were his gloves as he washed the top of his head with them. Staring at his evil twin in confusion, Tails wondered in confusion why Miles wouldn't take off his gloves rather than get soap all over them, but before he could question him on it, as if Miles knew what he was going to say, he was strictly instructed, " Don't say a word!... You do not want to risk water or soap getting in your mouth, especially soap. "

Miles washed the bubbly pinkish white soap out of the hair on Tails' head and proceeded to wet one of the four washcloths at his side, pick up the solid soap and start scrubbing him with it and then the wet washcloth slightly roughly, saying, " Work with me here, " to get Tails to lift his arms and then tails later on. Tails dealt with the discomfort with a slight grimace, although he was surprised and confused at how Miles was washing his tails a lot more gently, with a worried look on his face.

While Tails wasn't entirely comfortable with the experience, he did appreciate all the genuine effort Miles was putting into trying to get him clean. He didn't have to do that for him. As Miles toweled off his face after scrubbing it with a soapy washcloth, Tails smiled. He thought, " _Have I ever been taken care of like this before?... No, not even by Sonic! After all, he always let me take baths by myself…_ "

Wondering if he was allowed to talk and have his eyes open again, Tails asked, " Don't you wanna do this without your gloves? " with a quizzical expression. " Why?! " Miles asked defensively, taken aback with anxiety in his voice and eyes. Tails thought nervously in exasperation, " _Wow, he gets worked up over everything!_ " and said, " W-Well, you're getting your gloves all soapy. Can you get that out of them? Are they- "

" They're fine! T-They don't need replacement! They never will! I can wear them in any circumstance and they'll still remain usable. I've had them for years and years, " Miles explained quickly with an irritated look. " Okay. I-I guess the same can be said for why you didn't take your sweater off, right? " Tails said carefully, wondering why Miles was so reluctant to be gloveless. Was he hiding something? " I, right, exactly, " Miles replied, still anxious and defensive with his eyes darting all over the place.

Miles instructed suddenly, " Let me see your _hands!_ " with a clearly nervous and scared tone. " T-To wash them, of course, " he clarified unnecessarily, and Tails brought his own ungloved hands to Miles', allowing them to be held from beneath surprisingly gently, and washed one at a time. To his shock and confusion, Miles parted the fur on his hands and looked at the skin beneath them with a stunned look, struck speechless, and had his gaze fixated on them completely. Tails reassured him, " It's okay, Miles. I've had those scars my whole life. I don't even remember where they came from, to be honest. Probably from me when I was young and still teaching myself engineering. It's no big deal, " stunned by his sympathy and pity.

Miles sighed in clear frustration, and grumbled, " Of course you don't remember, " under his breath through gritted teeth. Tails heard his response, and was upset when Miles then looked him in the eyes again to bitterly and condescendingly remark, " You probably did give them to yourself out of incompetence. You should've known that something as easy to hurt yourself with is something children shouldn't attempt. Of course you'd get hurt. But it doesn't even matter because you don't even remember the experiences. " Ironically enough, he spent that time washing Tails' scarred hands even more gently than before, and only showed his anger through scrubbing his legs roughly later. Tails grimaced, sad and offended, and wondered if Miles had scarred hands as well and was bitterly jealous of him because he actually remembered how they got that way. Naturally, Tails decided that would be a touchy subject.

" Did you ever try engineering in your life? " Tails asked gently. " No, " Miles replied immediately, looking down on the very idea. " I-I was just wondering because if you tried and got hurt from it a lot, then it would make sense for you to decide to focus on something else. It'd be a logical decision to make, so I wouldn't blame you, " Tails said nervously, as Miles started scrubbing his feet with the soap and wet washcloth. " I never even had an interest, as far as I can recall. If I did, I would've used it to my advantage for years to come. Engineering is too risky for an amateur to attempt. Too many ways of getting _burned!..._ Or electrocuted, not that I'd have to worry about _that._ "

" Why not? " Tails asked curiously, hoping that he had finally gotten a conversation going as Miles started once again pouring water over his body. " Well, believe it or not, I'm actually immune to electricity! I simply absorb it and can control it to my convenience, " Miles explained nonchalantly with a hint of genuine joy and pride in his tone. " I only discovered it after your previous encounter with me, along with most of my other abilities. That is why I didn't show you them earlier, that and the fact that what little I had discovered at the time I wanted to take the time to master before showing it off. " His eyes then darted around nervously, implying that there was more to it that he wasn't telling him.

" Really? That sounds cool! I'd love to see them some time! It sounds fascinating that a parallel version of me could have all sorts of cool powers that I don't. I know I'm not immune to being, well, you know, thanks to Eggman and my earlier fumblings with engineering… " Tails responded with curious excitement at first, only to become sad by the end of it. Tails continued sincerely, " I'm glad I stuck with engineering, 'cause it's what I'm best at. It's what I'm happiest doing and most passionate about. It'd be a shame to abandon it after that! Even if it did have a steep learning curve and so getting good about it with no teachers was rough, that's why you stick with your hobby until you get good. I don't know what else my passion would be focused on other than inventing. What did you end up being interested in? "

" Well… nothing really practic… Never mind. N-None of your business, " Miles said melancholically, looking irritated with him as he avoided eye contact. Throughout Tails' heartfelt words about his experiences with engineering, he seemed bored and disinterested, until the last few sentences where his eyes widened and appeared sad as if he could relate to it. But when he was questioned about what his own passion was, he refused to tell him it. Tails wondered if he was insecure about his own passion because it wasn't as useful as his. Was he jealous of him? Did he feel inferior to him in any sense and try to hide it? " It doesn't need to be practical as long as you enjoy it. It's good to have a hobby! Makes your life happier because you always have something fun to look forward to! If you, ever wanna show me, you can. If I have a talent, you've gotta have one, too! "

There was a silence as Miles continued to look depressed, although his eyes darting back and forth as he washed him at least implied he was considering his offer. Tails looked forward to the day when Miles would trust him enough to agree to it, as it would be an important step towards getting them closer as friends. It was already far harder than it should've been getting Miles to open up to him, as he was so paranoid that he would use any information against him or judge him, and so easily offended, getting worked up and emotional over the slightest of things, and while he hadn't attacked him in his anger, Tails still felt like he had to be walking on eggshells around him. It was exhausting, to say the least, but the more he got to know him, the more sympathy he had for him.

As Tails thought about that, Miles unplugged the bathtub to drain the water, ordered, " Get out of the tub, " and proceeded to towel him off with the towel not lying in front of the bathtub, drying him off the best he could. Tails was lost in thought over what he had learned about Miles earlier as he dried him off from head to toe, instructed him, " Sit down, " and put his shoes and gloves back on him, being careful and gentle as he held each hand from beneath to put the glove back on it as he sat on the towel-covered floor. " Alright, now stand up, " Miles ordered, not sounding as resentful so much as bored.

It was only when he had finished and started combing the knots out of his hair that Tails realized once again how much effort and care Miles was putting into what he was doing for him. Looking back on it, he even saw a small likable smile from Miles when he briefly looked him in the eyes after drying his hair, put his hands on his shoulders for a second and said, " Now stay still, your hair's full of knots. "

Tails had assumed at first that Miles would only be taking care of him reluctantly to ensure his personal servant's survival, but he seemed to be actually happy with it, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he was doing something good. " _He's really getting into this… He has a soft side!_ " Tails thought, torn between being unsettled and being delighted at the discovery that even his evil twin had a nurturing side to him.

As Miles combed his hair, surprisingly keeping his regular messy-looking hairstyle rather than making it in the same manner as his like he had worried, Tails smiled in spite of the pain of the knots being combed out of his head fur, appreciating how Miles had a soft side and could feel good from doing good things, rather than only being uncomfortable with them.

Soon, Tails noticed how strange it was that Miles wasn't facing the washroom mirror when he was tending to him, instead combing him right in front of the bathtub facing it instead of the mirror. Even when he had finished combing his hair, he placed the comb on the counter very hastily rather than stopping to look at his own reflection, and focused on him while ignoring it. Was he not comfortable with his appearance? Tails thought, " _Oh, boy, first the gloves and now mirrors. Not to mention he's defensive of the Suppression Squad. I didn't realize there were so many different things that could get him all worked up… Then again, I've never spent so much time alone with him before... How sensitive IS he? There must be a reason he's like this when I'm not! Think, Tails. Why would I, be like that?_ "

Having finished tending to him in the washroom, Miles said, " There, perfect. Don't you feel better knowing that you're finally clean? You look great, " with his hands on his shoulders at first. He seemed to speak to him sort of affectionately, with a genuine smile on his face. He was clearly feeling pretty good about doing something as kind as taking care of his worst enemy, enjoying the sense of accomplishment it gave him… But then he looked depressed again, and looked away.

Worried, Tails asked him, " Have you been combing your hair and stuff too? I mean, do you need in here? " awkwardly trying to learn why he looked away from his own reflection without being too blunt about it. " No, I'm fine, " Miles said standoffishly, and Tails replied, " Good. I thought so. You look like you've made a lot of effort taking care of yourself. More than me. Good to see you're keeping your hair neat and everything. "

" Um… Where, um, yes, you're right. W-Where's this coming from? Why are you complimenting my _appearance? "_ Miles asked nervously, looking insecure and skeptical. Then he glared at him with a resentful look, and questioned, " Are you sucking up to me? Because if you think that pretending to like me will manipulate me to your benefit, you can just _stay quiet,_ " looking at him with a cold bitter glare.

" I'm not pretending! I'm just trying to be nice! It'll make things a lot less stressful for you staying here if I treat you with compassion and respect, even if you aren't very used to it. Besides, I've been your enemy for such a long time, me being nice to you is _long_ overdue. I'm sorry if that's coming off as fake and manipulating. I-It is forced to some extent, but that doesn't mean I don't _care_ about you. I wanna learn more about you, and I promise there's _nothing_ to worry about from that. We have to learn to trust each other, you know? It'll be easier to live together that way, " Tails said sadly, with clear panic in his voice at first before speaking with compassion and sympathy afterwards, a nervous smile as he held back on blinking and only blinked at certain times to try to hold back the tears welling up in his eyes. He decided not to ask Miles why he was ignoring the mirror or even point it out after that, fearing another outburst of anger from him. He hoped he would get used to the sudden emotional outbursts from someone normally calm and emotionless, because from what he experienced so far, Miles was unpredictable.

Fortunately for him, hearing that heartfelt speech made Miles' anger deflate, and he went right back to being depressed, looking away from him with his head hung low. Wanting to avoid any more outbursts of anger from him, Tails asked with a forced smile, " So what's my next order, Miles? " preferring having him acting like an authority figure over him being depressed. There was a brief silence. " Oh, right, " Miles said quietly to himself facing away from Tails, as if he had completely forgotten that Tails was letting him be in charge. That implied something all by itself, which Tails didn't fail to notice.

Miles turned to face him looking stern again and ordered, " Next you need some sustenance. You're coming with me to the kitchen to obtain some nourishment. It's supper time, so some broccoli soup sounds about right, especially to make up for the lost nutrition from the several meals you've obviously skipped, " walking out of the washroom with Tails following him by the third sentence. Miles added insultingly, " I hope those inventions of yours were worth it, " in a grumbling tone. This naturally made Tails sad again, and his ears drooped with his head hung low in shame, wondering if some of his engineering really was pointless. After he had already done all the work he needed to survive, he had only continued with it to distract from the loneliness, and now he had no reason to do it when he had someone to keep him company and he'd already built everything he wanted. But what else would he do all day? He had to keep engineering, even if it was pointless.

" Tails, is there ANYTHING in this kitchen?! " Miles shouted in frustration, looking through the last cupboard in futility. The sudden shout distracted and startled Tails, and he jumped up from the kitchen chair and flinched. " I-I'm sorry! I-I was going to get some more food before I found you! L-Look, I know where the nearest grocery store is. I'll go get everything we need from it, just give me a list! " Tails exclaimed in a panic. " No. I'm coming _with_ you. I'll tell you what we need to get. It'll be faster that way, " Miles replied, thankfully with his fury already cooled down to mere frustration with him. At least his anger was always limited to short temporary bursts, and didn't lead to anything more than him shouting at him. " _I hope he's all bark and no bite,_ " Tails thought nervously.

Tails stood up from the kitchen table ready to leave, before Miles made him stop in his tracks with the words, " Take a sweater. Or a lab coat if that's all you have, I don't care. You just finished a bath after all, and I'm _not_ having you catch a cold! " Tails was dumbfounded for a few seconds at Miles acting like a concerned parent more than an old enemy without even realizing it, before hastily saying, " Good idea, " and rushing to his bedroom closet down the hall to get his lab coat on, leaving Miles alone in the kitchen. He couldn't help but be stunned by all the displays of compassion that Miles had and all of the kind gestures for him that he didn't have to do, but cared enough to do anyways. Either he really wanted to make sure his caretaker-for-emergencies was healthy at the expense of his dignity, or he was already beginning to care about him.


	2. Chapter 2

After getting on his warm lab coat and returning to the kitchen, Tails followed Miles out of his house, saying while pointing in the correct direction, " The store's this way. " Miles stated looking serious as usual, " We should reach our destination as quickly as possible. It is already too late in the day as it is, so it is best if we have our supper before 8:00 at night, which as of today, will be your curfew. We'll run to the store as fast as we are able, " in an all-business tone so devoid of emotion that it sounded almost monotone and robotic. He was unsettling when he spoke that way, and Tails wondered if he preferred the way he had acted earlier.

" Alright, good idea! " Tails said cheerfully, getting in a stance prepared to start running, only to gasp at his hand being grabbed and held in a protective grip that was gentle enough to not cause him pain. His evil twin was holding his hand. " Miles! I-I, thanks!... But, I can keep up with you just fine on my own! " Tails exclaimed in astonishment, stunned at his gesture. He wondered if it was proof once and for all that Miles truly had started to consider him as his friend, and he was torn between being unsettled and incredibly appreciative of it and wanting more out of loneliness.

" I need to do this so you won't get left behind, " Miles explained quickly, and Tails, wondering if he was just making excuses, was confused at first as the two of them started spinning their tails vertically behind themselves to propel themselves forwards with blasts of wind behind them. At first, Tails thought they were moving at the same speed and there was no danger of him falling behind, only to gasp and look wide eyed at what Miles did next. He positioned his other hand behind himself and pushed it backwards abruptly with force, which caused a gale force wind to blast out of his palm continuously, increasing the speed at which he moved over the ground considerably. Tails yelped at being pulled along by him as he wasn't doing the same thing as him, and as the grassy fields rushed by him in a blur, he exclaimed in a panic, " C-Can you slow down?! "

" I don't have to. You are perfectly capable of moving at the same speed, " Miles replied, and muttered, " And if I had both my hands free, I'd be moving even faster. " Confused, Tails said in panicked disbelief, " I am?! I'm spinning my tails as fast as I can! " Miles clarified, " That's only part of the equation. And it isn't even necessary. Just imagine a gale force wind being forced out of your palm while your hand is behind you facing backwards. Focus your mind on the concept of the kinetic force of the wind you'll generate by pushing your hand in that direction, and it will come naturally to you. I _know_ you can do this, so I'll know if you aren't trying. "

Scared of being dragged behind him, Tails desperately did exactly what he instructed, and before he knew it, he was doing the exact same thing as his counterpart, giving the speed at which he was hovering over the ground a significant boost with an additional gust of wind propelling him forwards. Thrilled with the speed at which he was traveling of his own accord and his ability to do such a task, Tails said, " Wow! " in amazement, fascinated with it already.

To his surprise, Miles was delighted at him discovering his power, and with a smile of childlike excitement, he exclaimed happily, " You did it! I knew you could do it! I knew you were up to the task! You catch on quick. I was worried that you would fail from not trying hard enough. Splendid work for the first time! Let's see if you keep it up! " He seemed to have been so caught up in being proud of him that he forgot to try to speak in a mature and sophisticated manner at first, talking more like him instead as he regressed to the way he spoke when they first met. Tails found this only added to the confusion of his situation, wondering why Miles was so happy for him and was reacting just like he would've in the same shoes. Did it remind him of himself when he first learned he could do that, of the delight and excitement and satisfaction he felt that he was reliving through him? Such a thing could only stir those emotions in him if he could connect to him with empathy. He always assumed Miles was born an evil psychopath with no moral compass, but from what he was seeing, that couldn't have possibly been the case. A psychopath would be biologically incapable of sharing the happiness of others. Why was he so evil, then? " I'm going at sonic speed… " Tails commented instead, wondering how Sonic would react to his newfound boost ability. " And you'll be able to move even faster later, when both of your hands are free. We'll try tomorrow morning, after you've gotten some sleep, " Miles replied.

By the end of their exhilirating run to the grocery store, Tails and Miles had only seen around ten minutes pass, with Tails being thrilled and amazed at the speed he was going the whole time. It was so stunning, but at the same time, it felt so natural. They stopped near the group of grocery carts just outside the entrance to the store, which was once thriving and full of life. Pulling the grocery cart away from the others and turning it to face the automatic doors, Miles ordered, " You're going to be pushing this through the store following me. I'll be on the lookout for the food products we'll need, and I will tell you where we'll be going throughout. Understand? " Tails replied, " Good idea, " and started pushing the grocery cart behind and to the side of Miles following behind him. They walked from the paved parking lot into the grocery store in silence, with Tails unhappily hoping he wouldn't get sick and tired of him ordering him around. It was already a little grating. But he pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on how much he appreciated his company.

Upon entering the store, Miles walked more slowly than usual as he looked around, turning from side to side as he took in the sight of the massive amount of food at once that was all ripe for the taking. Wondering if his theory about why Miles was walking slower at the moment was correct, Tails asked curiously at his side, " When's the last time you've been to a place like this? " He thought, " _Have you ever even been to one?_ " with concern and sympathy.

Miles, still awestruck with his eyes wide open, looked sad as he said, " I… don't know… I haven't even bothered entering a store by myself in years! This place has so much to eat here all at once! It's breathtaking! " absent-mindedly being honest with him while forgetting his distrust of him from his amazement.

Tails asked unhappily as they walked down the aisle of dairy products, " What's kept you from going to stores by yourself? " There was a silence, as Miles looked depressed with his head hung low at hearing that. " Shopkeepers never gave me the proper service. The last couple times I paid for anything, they simply took my money and ordered me to leave... The heartless _bastards._ They deserve to be stolen from. Yet another reason I'm glad this world has no people, " Miles said quietly, being sad for the first two sentences before getting intimidatingly bitter and hateful, his fists clenching at his sides. Disapproving of Miles' hatred of humanity, Tails commented without thinking, " Did this start before or _after_ you started breaking the law? "

Miles' eye twitched angrily, he stopped in his tracks, and was silent for two seconds before growling at him resentfully, causing him to get very nervous and regret what he said. " _BEFORE!..._ Idiot! " Miles shouted at him, hissing the insult through his teeth boiling with rage. At the second word, he turned away from him.

Trembling at his side, Tails said fearfully, " I-I'm sorry, Miles! I-I didn't mean to sound like I agreed with them for how they treated you. That kind of unfair treatment is _never_ justified! I wasn't trying to blame you, I just meant that people would have more reason to act that way if you were already an evil infamous- " " LEAVE IT! " Miles shouted at him turning around to face him, causing him to go silent with his ears drooping sadly. It was hard to imagine after that outburst that there was more anger in him he was bottling up, and Tails was both confused and grateful that his evil twin wasn't choosing to express all of it when he could. Their walk through the grocery store finally continued, in dead silence.

Nervous at how tense things had gotten because of his mistake, Tails inwardly put blaming him for how he was treated by people on his list of things that Miles was very sore about, as Miles placed eggs, cheese, butter, and milk into the grocery cart looking resentful and avoiding eye contact with him. As Miles led him through the empty store putting all sorts of healthy food products and ingredients in his cart, Tails glumly thought forwards to all the meals he'd be expected to partake in with all the emphasis being on nutrition over good taste. When they finally happened to walk though an aisle where cold desserts were being refridgerated to the sides of them, Tails asked dejectedly, " Can I at least have some ice cream to go with all this? "

Miles stopped in his tracks and looked at him judgmentally with his arms crossed. He at least seemed to be no longer angry with him for his victim-blaming earlier, and was merely disapproving of his request. Had he already forgiven him? That was fast. With a nervous forced smile, Tails persuaded hopefully, " Come on, it tastes so good! It can be my reward for eating all that healthy food at the end of the day! Sound like a plan? "

There was a silence, until Miles rolled his eyes and shrugged saying reluctantly, " Fine, fine, if you must. I'd say vegetables and the like are delicious as well, but if you really require an incentive to have intelligent eating habits, that is _your_ problem. " With that, he looked away with his back turned to him again as Tails quickly placed a container of mint ice cream in the grocery cart, feeling ashamed and self-conscious of his eating habits. He wondered if Miles was in that sense taking care of him more responsibly than Sonic was, and quickly decided that even if he was, he still would've preferred if he treated him more like Sonic did raising him. Taken aback by realizing how exactly he was viewing Miles, Tails insecurely wondered if he had gone mad from loneliness if he was really desperate enough for company that he would accept his evil twin as another caretaker and let him raise him like Sonic did, even if only temporarily until he started thinking clearly again. Following behind him once more, he felt pathetic for being that way, and hoped he would reunite with Sonic soon. He wasn't entirely sure if getting to know someone so deeply troubled and exhausting to be around would be worth it.

They stopped one final time when Miles noticed something in an aisle that caught his immediate attention. Picking up a box of tea with a grin of childish excitement on his face, Miles exclaimed happily, " Yes! Marvelous! I didn't think I'd ever get to have this again! " Looking pleased at his good fortune, Miles put the tea into the grocery cart saying quickly, " Well, this works out well for me. And you get your ice cream, so we both get a treat! Of course, this is only for me. Can't have it running out before the end of the week, after all, " and chuckling briefly in a surprisingly likable manner. Tails was incredibly happy at seeing him being likable and happy again, and was determined to take advantage of the opportunity.

" You like tea, huh? I know someone who really likes it, too. You'd like her! " Tails commented casually with a nonchalant tone, seeing the perfect opportunity to make casual conversation with him and get to know him better. Intrigued, Miles asked as they started leaving the grocery store through the automatic doors, " Really? Who? " Tails answered, " Cream's mom, Vanilla. She's always offering it to guests in her home, and Cream likes having it for tea parties and stuff. "

Miles went quiet again, with a sad look on his face that gave the impression that there was something he didn't entirely understand. Tails clarified, " Oh, Cream the Rabbit, I mean. She's a friend of mine, not something you put in your tea. It's a unique name, I know, " and giggled a little. " Right, right, of course. She has a what, now? " Miles responded in confusion, still looking sad.

Stunned, Tails stopped in his tracks and fell silent for a few seconds at what he just asked. " A mom!... You know… a, female parental figure… Uh, someone who takes care of you who's an adult... You know what I mean, right? I-I-I'm not trying to insult you here, I promise! I'm just… " Tails answered, so worried about him that he wasn't sure how to respond. Tails asked him sadly, " Have you ever had a mom? "

There was a three second silence as Miles had a sad expression on his face looking away; Tails found it to be heartbreaking, and wished he would at least say something. Miles spent the rest of the walk home in emotional turmoil, walking in front of him to hide his sad and depressed expression. They walked home in silence, with Tails spending the whole time worrying about just how bad his evil twin might have had it and if that was indeed enough to justifiably push him into villainy.


	3. Chapter 3

When the long walk home finally ended, Tails smiled in relief at the ending of the uncomfortable silence. Miles held the door open for him as he pushed the grocery cart into the house wishing that he had just gone to the store in his plane, as then he'd only have needed to put the groceries in its trunk and fly the plane home. Miles seemed pretty insistent on encouraging him to run to the store using his newfound boost instead. Was making a second seat for the plane for him even worth it?

Tails thought about all this as he helped Miles put the groceries away, distracted from the silence. When they were done, Miles immediately got started on making broccoli soup. " Can I work on my engineering while you're busy with supper? " Tails asked nervously. " How come? I expected you to want to watch me like a hawk to ensure I wouldn't sabotage your meals. Obviously that would only inconvenience the one who's in charge of keeping you healthy, but I didn't think you would come to understand that so soon. Besides, you can work on your inventing any time. Why don't you stay here so you can learn how I make our meals? That way, when I fall ill, you'll be able to replicate it rather than making me your own idea of meals with less nutrition. Sound like a plan? "

Tails reluctantly said, " Alright, " stood up from a chair at the kitchen table and went to standing by his side, observing him as he calmly explained his process of making the soup. It wasn't that exciting, and wasn't nearly as fulfilling or entertaining to him as engineering, but Tails tried to look on the bright side, and viewed it as them spending quality time together. This was the first time Miles would spend an extended period of time talking to him without any anger or insults, and Tails valued that time as a breath of fresh air that foreshadowed it getting more frequent.

Miles told him that with each specific meal he'd make, " I'll show you how to do it the first time, and expect your contribution every time after that. " The plan was that Tails would start with working on the insignificant parts that were the hardest to screw up, like putting ovens and the like to certain settings at his instruction, and gradually working his way to doing half the work, alternating what he would help with. For now, though, Tails was limited to simply observing, watching over his shoulder as he cut the vegetables into pieces on the cutting board and poured milk into a bowl before placing them in them. It was at least a learnng experience for Tails, if an unexciting one that felt unnecessary. For the most part, cooking with him was uneventful.

When Miles had finished preparing the soup's vegetables and started heating them up in a bowl of milk in a boiling pot, Tails soon became bored at waiting for the soup to be finished, and asked tentatively, " Can I work on any inventing while the soup is boiling? " hoping he would be reasonable enough to agree. " What are you planning to work on? " Miles asked looking bored, staring at the soup with his arms crossed. His left leg was bent back so that he had one foot against the wall in a rebel relaxation pose.

" Well, it took so long getting back from the store, I figured it'd be better if I invented something that would make the trip back faster! Rather than just walking home pushing the grocery cart. You want me to run to the store to get more practice with my boost, but while that's all well and good, it means I can't bring my plane to the store with me, so I can't put the groceries in the trunk and quickly get home. So why don't I put an autopilot into it where it'll fly to the store on its own? " Tails said with a nervous smile. He remembered how his evil counterpart didn't think much of his engineering, saying he was focusing on only it despite having an incredible connection to Chaos Force. Was he acting like Miles was right by learning more of his powers? If he had been, reaffirming his place as an engineer first and foremost could help mend that.

Miles replied, " You should've done that months ago. You're lucky you found me here. Your boost isn't the only ability your control over the wind grants you. You still have a lot to learn, " again with barely any emotional inflection in his tone aside from the first sentence, still staring at the boiling soup. " I do? Huh. But I'm still an engineer first and foremost, you know. I wanna focus on _that_ more, " Tails said nervously, hoping he wouldn't offend him. Miles, having his arms crossed again, stated in a deadpan manner again devoid of emotion,

" Considering that you'll never be as powerful as me, it makes perfect sense that you would put your unique skill as the primary focus of your life. " Feeling confused and insulted, Tails asked, " Why not? You're me from another dimension. Why wouldn't we have the same abilities? Wasn't that why you knew why I'd have that boost in the first place? "

" Well- " Miles started to say looking uneasy and exasperated, only for Tails to continue, " And why do you want me to learn more of my abilities in the first place? You think of this as just a temporary alliance with an enemy of yours, so why would you wanna get your sworn enemy to become more capable? I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just confused about what you have to gain from that. "

" Don't interrupt me! " Miles yelled at him in frustration, making him flinch and jump from the sudden outburst. There was a brief silence as Miles looked unhappy seeing his scared reaction, before he sighed while shaking his head with a hand on it before saying in exasperation, " It's a long story, and I'm not even sure if you'd believe it if I told you, so I shall inform you more in detail at a later date… F-For now, I'll summarize it thusly; members of our kind, foxes who have a second tail as a manifestation of the massive quantity of chaos energy in our bodies, are gifted with a set of abilities that is determined by chance, with no genetic or biological factor. Extensive research has been documented on our people throughout history, at least in my dimension, where I was fortunate enough to come across it in a book. Foxes like us are known as kitsune, and we possess the power to manipulate one of the elements of nature. "

Tails was astonished by Miles' explanation, enough to be distracted from dwelling on him shouting at him and getting upset. " Our people?... But, I thought my second tail was just a mutation… " Tails said in confusion, having a slight identity crisis and not sure whether or not to believe him.

" It IS. Make no mistake, we ARE mutants, but the difference is that we're a special variety of them more powerful than any other. Our, _mutation,_ comes from the effect on our bodies from the amount of chaos energy we possess, and it is something only foxes exhibit. We are no ordinary mutants. We're the kind that is infamous throughout history, the most powerful kind of all. It's both a blessing and a curse, " Miles explained in a serious tone, sounding depressed with downcast eyes in the final sentence.

" That's incredible… " Tails responded in amazement and uncertainty, not sure how he felt about such revelations about what he was or whether he should believe them. For all he knew, only Miles' world might have that be true. " Of course, kitsunes don't have to be mutants. They generally have children who are kitsunes. It's just that, throughout history, they have had trouble finding people willing to have children with them, or even give them the time of day… " Miles clarified, looking depressed by the end of it. Tails was getting worried that kitsune were not treated very well. Miles' discomfort around the words, " mutant, " and, " mutation, " also gave him cause for concern. Did he suffer mistreatment for having a second tail? Was that what turned him against humanity?

" A-Anyway, a kitsune can have a connection with one of several different elements of nature; light, darkness, lightning and weather, fire, water, wind, nature, earth, metal, and even some interesting ones like creativity, life, spirit and time! Each with their own weaknesses, powers on the instinctual level, and sources of energy that they get lethargic from not having. I am a lightning kitsune. This means I have power over electricity and the weather, which means I can control the wind and summon ice, heat and rain by logical extension! Naturally I'm the most powerful variety, controlling multiple elements at once. I suppose you could say I was lucky. " Tails thought anxiously with a slight tremble, " _Lightning?_ "

" And that brings me to the answer to your question. You happen to be an air kitsune. That is the only explanation for why you can fly by manipulating the air with your tails without your presence having any impact on the rate of thunderstorms in the area. As a result, you can do just about anything that being able to move the air to your leisure would allow you to accomplish. You can freeze people in their tracks, move at four times the speed of sound, and obviously you possess the power of flight… " Miles explained.

" Wait, thunderstorms? Y-You, _increase_ the _rate_ of _thunderstorms?_ " Tails said nervously, dreading the larger amount of thunder and lightning he would endure because of his evil twin's presence. Miles scratched the back of his neck nervously, and explained, " Well, yeah… It's how a kitsune of my element gets energy. Just like how _you_ subconsciously increase the amount of gusts of wind in your vicinity. Of course, we can only influence an area the size of a small island, so don't worry too much. I… You don't need to worry about those storms inconveniencing you when I'm around. I have complete control over what lightning won't strike, even when I'm asleep, because it's my subconscious doing all the work. That's how deep the connection with electricity is for a kitsune of my kind. You have nothing to worry about. A-And of course, I don't either, since I'd only absorb the energy and store it for later. " He looked sad and awkward as he tried to comfort him for once, failing to hide his concern for him as his sad eyes and less dignified manner of speaking gave it away.

" T-That's good to hear, " Tails thanked him with a nervously forced smile, appreciating that he was compassionate enough to reassure him. He thought for sure that Miles would use his ability to conjure up thunderstorms or maintain them as a tool to intimidate him. He didn't have to react with sympathy, there was nothing in it for him, which made Tails wonder if Miles wasn't as selfish as he assumed he was. He certainly wasn't as quick to care about strangers as Tails was, having an apathy if not outright disgust for righteous living, but at least he could feel empathy and compassion at all. Even if it was only for a few people, it was still a start. He had at least had hope. Tails, after a silence, said in confusion,

" Thanks… But that still doesn't explain why you wanna teach me all this stuff. Why would you wanna make your sworn enemy more capable of beating you in a fight? " Miles sighed, and admitted reluctantly, " Because you're the only other kitsune I've ever known. Of course I want to teach you about our kind. You should know who you are. It's an important part of you that would be a waste to stay ignorant of. There are far too many kitsunes out there who never discover everything they're capable of, or even learn that they have special abilities at all! They live their entire lives without ever even learning of their magical heritage- well, ' heritage, ' so to speak. I was lucky that I wasn't one of them, that I discovered my most significant ability by sheer accident, because I never had anyone to tell me what I was capable of, and I had to learn everything on my own. Most kitsunes don't know what powers they have or even know what they're even called! They just think of themselves as mutants… Do you think that's fair? That so many of our kind spend their entire lives never knowing all of what makes them special?! It's _wasted_ potential! I'm _not_ letting that happen to you. _My_ _counterpart_ should have _better_ than that! That is why I'm going to be your mentor, in all things involving kitsune. I know that if we ever fought again, it would backfire horribly on me, but I don't care. I want to be able to pass down my knowledge to _someone,_ and, well, since I'm not very likely to have a son, _you're_ the only one I'll ever get for that… Besides, it'll give you more time to spend around me. That's apparently what you want, right? Certainly, you can still build things, but only on the condition that you allow me to teach you your _other_ abilities as a kitsune. "

" Other? Wait, engineering is a kitsune ability? " Tails said in confusion, having another identity crisis from it. " Not strictly that, but high intelligence, rather. Every kitsune that I've read about throughout history has been a prodigy in something, it's only a matter of what they apply their intellect to. You're an engineer because that happened to catch your interest, so you applied your intelligence and determination to that. Granted, I've only been able to research the kitsunes of my dimension, but since it's a parallel dimension to yours, sharing the same species and races, logically the same would apply to yours as well. "

Tails smiled, both at the relief that his engineering talent was still special and at the implication that Miles still thought he was an engineering genius, in spite of treating him condescendingly in the past. Was that all an act? Was he only doing it out of spite, or jealousy? Tails would always hate how he treated him in the past, and he could hardly stand the condescension now, but what he was learning about him that day was giving it all a new lens to view it through. There was more to him than he thought.

Before Tails could leave the kitchen to finally start working on his plane, Miles stated, " The soup is finished, " to his dismay. Tails sat down at the kitchen table and watched unhappily as Miles poured the broccoli soup into two separate bowls and put a spoon in each before placing each bowl on the table. He gave the first to Tails and put his own bowl of soup on the rectangular table nearby, and sat down at the chair right next to him rather than at the one across from him. They proceeded to eat their supper in silence, with Tails not outright hating the nutritious vegetable soup, but not appreciating it nearly as much as Miles did, who seemed at peace as he partaked in it without looking at him.

Tails was relieved when he finally finished the entire soup, as he could at last get Miles to unlock the compartment in the fridge with the mint ice cream in it and give it to him as a reward. Miles on the other hand, was more interested in making a cup of tea for himself, and drank it slowly from a coffee mug for the next ten minutes, with a relaxed smile as if he finally felt at peace. It was clear tea time was his favorite time of the day, as he used it to calm his frazzled nerves. Tails wasn't quite happy with the long silence between him and his evil twin that happened once again, but he supposed they couldn't talk all the time, especially not if they would be spending the entirety of every day together.

When Tails finished his ice cream, he got out of the kitchen chair and tried to leave the room, only for Miles to say sternly, " Where are you going? " and cause Tails to unhappily stop in his tracks. " Um, to the lab? " Miles rolled his eyes with his arms crossed and said, " It's 8:00 at night! " pointing to the microwave's clock. " You're going to bed! " he told him strictly, walking up to him. Disappointed, Tails said, " Oh, come on, 8:00 isn't that late! " Miles, now right in front of him, replied, " Yes it is! Especially for someone of your age. And need I remind you that you have bags under your eyes? You need sleep. Desperately! "

" You're the same age as me, you know, " Tails grumbled to point out his hypocrisy, looking away from his disapproving glare as he said something he had wanted to say to him since they met. He knew Miles was right, but he still wanted to get started on his plane idea. " Is that the time you usually go to sleep at? " Tails asked him in annoyance. If Miles was going to stay up after sending him to bed despite him having nothing to do, he wouldn't be happy with him. " Of course! It's only smart to get as much rest as you can! " Miles replied, annoyed at even having to defend his opinion.

" I'm surprised your criminal associates even let you go to bed that early; I assumed you'd be forced to stay up late with them to do all sorts of law-breaking, " Tails said resentfully, once again not admitting that he did think Miles was right. Miles' eye twitched angrily and he snapped at him, " Don't you talk about my friends that way! You don't know them! They treated me right! A hell of a lot better than they ever treated you! " shouting at him looking incensed. Tails jumped and flinched again, startled by his sudden anger and holding back tears. At no point so far had Miles ever hurt him in their alliance, but Tails couldn't help expecting it from his evil twin.

There was a silence as Tails looked at Miles nervously. Calmed down to mere frustration, Miles continued more quietly while looking away with his arms crossed, " They showed me a side to them that most people didn't see. Don't assume they were terrible friends just because they broke the law. " Tails was silent in response to that, letting the statement sink in. He never realized Miles and the Suppression Squad were so close. They must have treated him really favorably to get him so loyal to them. Were they the only people who ever cared about him? Tails was full of questions, feeling unbearably sorry for him, but he didn't want Miles to snap at him again for trying to get him to open up, or go back to being depressed.

" They must have been really considerate of you, " Tails finally said sadly, deciding that would be safe enough. " They were… " Miles replied sadly, depressed once again. He clearly missed them. " I'm sorry, Miles. I knew you were right about how I should get more sleep, I was just lashing out. It wasn't right of me when you're just trying to help me. I'll try to be nice to you again from now on, I was just disappointed, that's all… " Tails apologized reluctantly.

There was a silence, implying that Miles was stunned at actually being apologized to and told that he was right. Finally, scratching his neck at the start of it, he said a little awkwardly, " T-That's alright. And I, regret raising my voice to you, startling you and all, although I don't regret defending my associates. I never will. L-Let's get you to bed and not stall any longer. " With that, Miles walked him to his bedroom as Tails smiled at him again showing compassion.

Bringing Tails into his bedroom, Miles ensured he would take off his shoes first and then tucked him into bed, and smiled a little at him, before instructing, " If you don't get a good night's sleep tonight, tell me in the morning. I'll think of something. " Tails smiled warmly at him, only to feel guilty as he started leaving the room and say, " I'll start making a proper bed for you first thing in the morning! With a mattress and blankets and everything! It's not fair you have to sleep on the couch. M-Maybe I'll even get the house a new bedroom! I'll have plenty to do! "

Miles actually seemed to appreciate his childlike excitement and optimism for once, and ruffled his hair saying, " Glad to hear that! Good night, kiddo, " before leaving his room closing the door behind him. As he listened to his footsteps get further and further away, Tails stared at the ceiling speechless, stunned at Miles treating him in the same affectionate manner that Sonic did for him, and so casually at that, with a genuine likable smile while doing it. He decided not to remind him of it, since he would probably be embarrassed over getting carried away and treating him like a little brother. But the mere fact that he was familiar enough with that kind of treatment of someone to the point of doing it by accident revealed even more about his past all on its own. Did Miles get treated that way in the past? Did he have the same brotherly relationship with Scourge as Tails did with Sonic, behind closed doors? Was it something that stopped, or did it carry on with the members of the Suppression Squad acting as replacements? Tails was intrigued and curious as he slept on everything he learned about his evil twin that day, knowing that after he had breakfast in the morning, Miles would teach him even more about what he was capable of.


	4. Chapter 4

When Tails woke up the next day, he went to the kitchen and washroom wondering why Miles wasn't there. " It's already 7 in the morning. Isn't he up by now? " Tails said to himself in confusion and worry. He walked over to the living room couch where Miles was lying down covered in blankets with his eyes closed, and after great hesitation, said nervously, " Miles? "

Miles stirred and groaned, and reluctantly sat up taking the blankets off him. His movements were slow, drawn out and deliberate, as if he had to force himself to do anything at all. He yawned quietly and rubbed his eyes, which were looking bloodshot and weary, and he complained, " What time is it? " looking at Tails in a half-asleep groggy state struggling to keep his eyes open.

" It's 7:10 in the morning! Time to make our breakfast! " Tails answered cheerfully, trying to cheer him up by being happy around him. Miles groaned a little and slowly got up from the couch to a standing position and walked to the kitchen with Tails following behind him. With a nervous smile, Tails said jokingly, " You're not a morning person, are you? " Miles sighed in exasperation, and Tails asked, " Did you have trouble getting to sleep? " wondering if he had been tossing and turning all night from guilt for his past misdeeds. " Not _this_ time, it was just that I woke up early again and… Why am I telling you this? None of your business, " Miles answered absent-mindedly in his half-asleep state before remembering who he was talking to and trying to save face.

Tails looked worried as Miles got out two plates from the kitchen cupboard, wondering if he usually didn't sleep well, and if that helped explain why he was so grumpy all the time. Was it out of guilt that only surfaced when the day was over? Did he have nightmares a lot? Was it safe to ask him those personal questions without getting shouted at and shut down?

" I'll make us both scrambled eggs and toast. Did you sleep well? " Miles said quickly to change the subject, annoyed in the first sentence as he got the eggs, butter, cheese and bread out of the fridge and placed it on the kitchen counter. " Um, well, yeah actually, I did, " Tails answered unhappily, knowing he'd be envious of that. Deep down, he was hoping he wouldn't have slept well so that he'd potentially be able to get Miles to hold him still all night in an effort to get him to sleep, and was ashamed at how he had gotten so lonely and desperate for affection and care that he wanted that from his evil twin. Miles grumbled, " At least one of us did, " and said in exasperation, " Now watch closely as I make this. I want you to be able to make your meals exactly as I do to ensure maximum nutrition value. " Tails smiled hopefully and asked nervously, " Is this meal gonna be really tasty? " There was a brief silence, before Miles answered, " Yes, but that's not what should be important to you. " The rest of the morning was silent, aside from Miles calmly but slightly condescendingly explaining his cooking process to him as he made him breakfast.

After a rather uneventful breakfast, Miles told Tails, " Now you need your hair combed, " and the two of them went into the washroom to do that, once again not looking at the mirror as he combed his hair. When he finished, he put toothpaste on the toothbrush and picked the latter up before Tails grabbed the toothbrush and said nervously, " Wait, what are you doing? I-I can brush my teeth myself. " Miles said in annoyance, " Clearly not. " Tails shook his head in fear backing away, fearing that he'd brush too roughly and cause bleeding. " Please? I'll put in as much effort as I can! " Tails said with a nervous smile, thinking it'd offend him if he told him the reason for his hesitation. " I'll be the judge of that, " Miles said with his arms crossed.

After Tails brushed his teeth, Miles nodded seriously saying, " Alright, you did well. Keep doing that. " Tails smiled a little, his smile being forced as he was getting tired of Miles' disrespect for him. Tails was instructed, " Come outside, you have more to learn. "

Miles led him into the open field outside, and said seriously with his arms crossed, " You remember how I informed you of how to move at a greater speed than you did previously? Use both hands this time. After you've propelled yourself with it for sixty seconds, return to me. I have something else to teach you. "

" Don't you wanna come along? " Tails asked sadly, remembering and missing the last time they ran together, ashamed that he had appreciated how he was holding his hand from sheer loneliness. " I'm too tired, I mean fatigued, to use my tails that much right now. N-Now begin! " Miles admitted wearily before shouting the last sentence authoritatively. Flinching and not wanting to irritate his evil counterpart even further, Tails nodded, and followed his instructions. Running away with his tails spinning vertically behind him, he blasted gale force wind out of his palms with a quick forceful push behind him, and burst forwards at the speed of sound, thrilled by what he was achieving.

After 30 seconds, Tails turned his hands and moved his arms more to the left side of him, and was able to change the direction he was headed as a result, his hands sending high speed winds out of his palms to turn him around in a U-Turn and get him headed back home. It felt perfectly natural to him, a logical extension of his power, as he used his intellect to figure out how he could use his powers to achieve what he wanted. In fact, it felt so natural that it didn't even occur to him how impressive it was that he figured it out on his own. As he came closer and closer to Miles, knowing he had to slow down to a stop, he found himself sending less and less wind out of his palms, slowing himself down to a stop as his tails stopped spinning, and soon, he was standing in front of him with a thrilled smile.

" That was amazing! " Tails said happily to Miles, still excited by his newfound ability. " Are you sure you can't come for a run with me? Didn't you say earlier that you don't need to spin your tails to move fast?... What did you mean by that? " Tails asked him.

" That leads perfectly into what I am planning to teach you. Follow along with my movements and observe, " Miles answered without much emotion aside from the third word in his sentence. He quickly moved his arm around in a circle in front of his body moving the air around looking focused, and to Tails' amazement, this caused the air to quickly form into a small tornado of roaring wind at half his height that maintained its spin even when Miles stopped moving his right arm to keep it spinning. When he instead sent it downwards and back a little, the miniature tornado was sent towards him, and he leaped into the air to land right on top of it as it moved beneath him. The tornado caught him with the narrow part of its center, with him only falling through the top a little before being sent upwards a little and staying at that height, as if he was standing on something slightly solid. Just like that, Miles was standing on the top of a tornado, with the air below his boots compressed solid at the top of the narrow part of the lower tornado spinning around its inner and outer walls at the speed of sound.

Tails imitated everything he saw him do except his jumping at the end, astonished and completely focused on him. The movements he made felt perfectly natural, and it made sense to him that they would be the movements that would create a tornado in the first place. As quickly as Miles landed on the tornado, he leaned forwards looking determined and the tornado leaned forwards with him, being slightly behind as well as below him letting him continue to hover over the ground three feet into the air as he blasted wind out of his palms. With the tornado propelling himself forwards as well as carrying him, he sped away in a yellow blur, made a U-Turn in the distant horizon, returned to Tails, and moved his arm in a circle more quickly in the opposite, counter-clockwise direction while sending it downwards. This signaled to the tornado to shrink away while slowly lowering him safely to the ground, until it dissappeared into the air as if it had never existed at all. Miles thought nothing of it, looking just as disinterested as he did before, while Tails was astonished and humbled.

" Whoa… You really think I can do that? " Tails said, amazed and unsure. " I know for a fact that you can. Focus on the idea of a tornado in your mind. Imagine it happening, thinking of the roaring wind and what it looks like spinning around in front of you. You may not master it right away, but you could at least try, " Miles answered seriously, looking less tired with his eyes wide open for once.

Tails looked nervous, and took a slow deep breath in and out before doing what he was told. After moving his arm in a circle in front of him fast enough in a clockwise direction, he gasped as the air in front of him started to form a small tornado half the height of him, maintaining spinning around a small focal point even after he stopped moving his arm. Looking very nervous and doubtful that he would land on a solid surface, he hesitated, taking another deep shaky breath before jumping into the air, unconsciously propelling himself higher during it by blasting wind out of his palms, and as he started falling towards the center narrow funnel of the tornado, he squeezed his eyes shut hoping desperately that he would land on something solid. To his surprise and amazement, he did, feeling something solid give beneath his feet sinking downwards before rising back up with him standing on top of it, as if it was made of some very viscous liquid.  
Just like that, he was riding a tornado, hearing the wind rushing in circles beneath him and seeing it blow past him surrounding him. Appearing to be hovering above the ground, he carefully and slowly moved his arms to behind him and leaned forwards keeping his feet in the same position, and sent gale force wind out of his palms, which propelled him forwards at four times the speed of sound in a burst of speed that excited him. While he was wary of screwing up, especially in front of someone who was already condescending of him to begin with, he loved using his wind powers more than anything else he had done before. Perhaps even more than his engineering… Of course, he immediately shook off and dismissed that thought, proud of his reputation as an engineering genius and not wanting to be more like Miles. While he did care about him more, he still didn't want to be too much like him.

After making a U-Turn like before and stopping the tornado when he returned to Miles' side, he moved his arm in a circle in the opposite direction as before to make the tornado shrink down and lower him to the ground below. Still overwhelmed by what just transpired, he exclaimed happily, " Miles, I flew! I flew! I was riding a tornado! A real one! That's awesome! "

Thinking it was long overdue, he impulsively hugged Miles in all his excitement as he thanked him, " Thank you so much! " and let go with a happy giggle. It wasn't until he noticed Miles' stunned and wide-eyed expression that it dawned on him that he hugged his evil twin. Before he could be nervous and awkward about it for long, Miles smiled bashfully and turned away scratching the back of his neck, saying, " N-No problem, " in a quiet voice. Tails couldn't believe it. He never thought Miles was the type to appreciate hugs. Was he lonely, too?

" Y-You said you wished to work on your plane, did you not? " Miles said to change the subject, trying to be dignified again. " Well, let's not dawdle, then! " he finished, and Tails, after being still for a second, followed him to the lab, speechless. He wondered how he could be lonely to the point of enjoying a hug from his most hated enemy when he hadn't been alone for as long as him, and was both worried, and pleased that he had a soft side and wanted to be loved, rather than only wanting people to fear him. If he was truly evil, that would've been all he wanted.

Tails walked into his lab with Miles reluctantly following behind him, pulled open the trunk of the plane, and started working on programming his plane to be able to fly to the store on its own after he pressed a button on it. As he worked on that, his lab was silent as Miles was sitting on the floor behind him bored and tired. " You can help if you want. It'll be fun! A lot less boring than doing nothing at all. When I have something I wanna get done that I can easily explain how to do, I'll tell you… I know you think it's risky, but at least you'll have something to do, " Tails said, trying to sound cheerful when he was nervous and fearing Miles raising his voice at him again. Deep down, he was starting to get sick of that, but he believed it was worth smiling through it just to have a friend.

After a silence, Miles said reluctantly, " If you are able to properly explain it to me, then fine, I shall assist you, " looking away from him with his arms and legs crossed in a low grumbling tone, his head hung low. Was he embarrassed that he didn't know as much about engineering as him? Tails happily ignored how he insulted his explaining skills, just glad that he agreed to at least try to help him out in the lab. He was at least willing to compromise, rather than being the only one in the friendship doing any teaching. Tails hoped that their engineering together would bring them closer together, while also hoping Miles' genius would be enough that he'd be able to competently help him despite being an amateur at engineering at best. Of course, there was the concern of him using his newfound skill at that for evil if he ever left the dimension devoid of people he was trapped in at the moment, but Tails decided to put that thought aside until it was relevant. Hopefully by then, he would be able to convince him not to break the law anymore.

To Tails' disappointment, it turned out that what he needed to get done that day with his plane wasn't something that Miles would be able to help with at any point, with it mostly involving either programming, or engineering something to contain that code and make the plane act according to it. So Miles ended up subtly taking a nap while sitting with his back to the wall, with Tails appreciating his company for the sake of it. Still, he looked forward to the day when he'd have some easy to explain engineering task that he'd be able to get Miles to help with. His next project would be going over to the grocery store building a tall homing beacon for the plane to home in on, a radio tower, which would take hours to make even with the help of his ability to ride on a tornado almost indefinitely.

Before Tails knew it, his evil twin stood up from the floor and ordered while still seeming tired, " It's time for lunch. " This caused him to reluctantly stop in the middle of his work and leave the lab with him, knowing that arguing with him would be pointless. The two of them went back inside the house they now shared and Tails watched Miles prepare their pizza for lunch until they were waiting for it to finish heating up in the oven. While they were waiting for their lunch to be ready, there was a long silence, before Tails said lightheartedly to get a conversation going, " You know, back when we were enemies, I would've found it hard to imagine my evil counterpart cooking. "

" Why, did you think I was lazy or unskilled at it? " Miles replied in slight annoyance with a cocked eyebrow, his arms crossed as usual. " N-No, not necessarily, I just only associated you with your law-breaking and stuff. Not anymore. Not now that I'm getting to know you better. You're not just a criminal, Miles, you're not just my evil twin. You're so much more than that, " Tails said, being intimidated at first and smiling at him by the end. Miles looked stunned and then nervous from what he said. " I-I, thanks… " he replied with a small smile, embarrassed as he looked away. Tails smiled some more at that, taking it as confirmation that even he was aware that he had a soft side. Having a feeling that he would soon act rude to him to try to reaffirm that he hadn't gone soft, Tails spoke again before he could do that, saying cheerfully, " But yeah, you can cook! How long have you been able to do that? "

There was a silence as Miles looked at him in confusion and suspicion, before saying, " Since I was 4, " in a disrespectfully suspicious tone. It didn't look like complimenting him was an easy way to get on his good side, even in spite of his apparent arrogance. What could he do, then? Tails wondered if Miles was too paranoid of people to believe that they meant any compliments towards him, but pressed on by saying sincerely, " Really? That's amazing! Most people are still having people cook for them at that age. You must have been pretty interested in it then. "

Speaking quietly and melancholically, Miles' eyes were cast to the side as he said, " I _had_ to teach myself how to do it to survive. I never knew anyone back then who was willing to teach me, and it was ultimately healthier to eat meals that were cooked, so it was the most intelligent and pragmatic decision in the end… What about you? "

" Oh, Sonic's raised me with his friends for as long as I can remember, and they were always the ones doing the cooking, so I didn't learn until a few years ago when I asked them to teach me, " Tails admitted. Miles looked resentful, and grumbled, " I knew it, " before saying in a tone full of bitterness and condescension, " Always been taken care of, never had to struggle. I didn't have that luxury until I was almost 5 years of age!... I always knew you were spoiled… "

Tails was intimidated by his bitter hatred, and the room felt tense as he said sadly, " Oh… I'm sorry… You're good at it! " saying the last sentence with a nervous hopeful smile trying to diffuse the tension. He wondered if Miles hadn't met any of his criminal friends until he was 5 years old, which was certainly an older age than he himself was when he met Sonic. From everything he had learned about him so far, Tails was coming to the conclusion that Miles was an orphan who had to struggle to survive for the first 5 years of his life, and such a victimized and unfair existence turned him bitter and paranoid, making him eager to join a criminal gang to get his revenge against humanity. Tails was naturally uncomfortable with being faced with the fact that if his life had been like that, he would've turned out just like him.

" I cooked to ensure my own survival. It gave me the nutrition that I needed to live. That is all it will ever be to me, " Miles deadpanned apathetically, showing no emotion. Tails said sadly with downcast eyes, " I wish you could just take a compliment… " He wondered if it would even be possible for Miles to end up being good friends with him when he didn't even appreciate his kindness. " What, would you prefer if I were more like Scourge? _Relishing_ in compliments and _assuming_ they're correct and sincere? " Miles deadpanned after briefly looking sad and nervous, appearing to regret causing his sad reaction. Tails, considering how much more annoyed he'd be with him if he acted as smug as Scourge all the time, said,

" Definitely not, but, still… " with a lighthearted demeanor that turned back into worry. " I just want you to like me… " he said sadly, hoping he spoke quietly enough that Miles wouldn't hear. But judging from the way Miles looked away making it impossible to see his expression, it was clear that he had heard exactly what he said. As Tails held back tears determined to avoid embarrassing himself in front of him, he at least was reassured by the fact that Miles didn't insult him in response or say that would never happen like he expected. That alone gave him hope. What Tails didn't know about Miles was that it was taking everything in him not to comfort him after that. He knew how that felt more than anyone.


	5. Chapter 5

After their lunch was finished, Miles left the kitchen and went to the living room, and Tails followed him on what he thought was his way back to the lab. " I said it before, this place needs dusting, but because you delayed me by dragging me to your little lab… " Miles muttered using a broom on the living room floor, cleaning the house to the best of his ability. " So… can I go back to the lab now? " Tails asked nervously, not having much hope in that. Miles shot him a glare, and after a brief menacing silence, he ordered, " Get a duster and contribute! " and Tails jumped looking startled and started helping him clean the living room, slightly trembling as Miles complained,

" Just because you're the one who needs taking care of doesn't mean I should be letting you spend _all_ your time doing what _you_ want while I'm only tending to you. I don't get to do any of the things I previously enjoyed, there's nothing else for me to do in this world except run things in this house. I shouldn't have to do ALL the work around here! "

After a brief silence from hesitation, Tails said, " S-Sorry! Is, is there anything I can do? What did you enjoy doing, is, is there anything you're missing out on?... It'll make your life less stressful if I solve that problem for you. " There was a long silence, Miles looking at the floor in irritation with his eyes darting around as he cleaned the floor, before finally saying in annoyance,

" Well… I doubt this house has a violin. A piano would also be welcome, but finding and transporting one here would be more trouble than it's worth. " Getting excited that he was finally revealing what his hobby could've been to him, Tails said eagerly, " Not if I build something to make it easier! And I'm familiar with every house in the city, and I know for a fact that at least one of them has what you're looking for. This'll be another great excuse for me to engineer something! And to think I once thought that I ran out of things to build. " Miles looked stunned and confused, and said cautiously, " Alright… Good, " before apparently covering up his unease and paranoia at a good thing happening to him by saying, " Splendid, " and turning away again.

After they had their lunch, Tails flew the plane with a trunk full of metal pieces and tools to the grocery store with Miles, eager to get started on building a radio tower, as it would be the only way for the Tornado to follow a signal from it to get there on its own. " I found something you could help out with! Here, glue these metal pieces together like in this blueprint here. It'll be easy! " Tails said happily to him, handing him a container of nanoglue and a brush. Miles was told he could put the already shaped metal pieces together using a nanoglue brush, basically acting as a brick layer while Tails worked on making the wiring and putting it through everything. Miles was reluctant to help out with his engineering, something he never imagined himself doing, and only did so to have something to do. So he spent the next few hours doing something he never thought he would do with him, dipping the brown thick brush into the nanoglue and brushing the correct parts of the metal pieces of the radio tower to put them all together in the right shape. The radio tower was lying on its side on the grass in front of the grocery store as it was in the process of being built, and Tails planned to use a large crane to stand it upright and place it in its foundation when it was done.

Hours later, they were done, with the radio tower standing high above them and functioning. As Tails looked over at Miles' uncertain expression, he could tell that he wasn't sure how to feel about realizing that the radio tower they built was built because of him, even if Tails could've easily done it without him. Giving Miles a sideways hug holding him close to him, Tails was really happy to have bonded with him by having them build something together, and hoped it would continue happening in the future.

After returning home from building the radio tower with him, Miles taught Tails how to cook pork chops and potatoes and celery for supper, being calm and patient with an underlying deadpan snarker tone to his non-emotional instructions. Tails, trying to lighten the mood and start a conversation again, commented, " I'm surprised to learn that you're including meat in the meal. For the most part, you've been all about vegetables. " Miles scoffed and responded, " Meat is part of the main food groups. It gives you vitamins that you need to survive, you'd become very unhealthy if you didn't eat it. And that's why vegetarians are imbeciles. They literally need to resort to doctor-given vitamins to stay alive. I mean, I understand their reasoning, but I doubt it's worth it. "

Tails nodded politely in response, staying silent, and continued to watch and listen as he was told how to make a " proper supper. " An hour later after they finished it, he was given mint ice cream for dessert while Miles silently enjoyed his tea, and when that was done, he put Tails to bed again, leading him to his room by the arm and tucking him into bed like he did the previous day.

After Tails woke him up in the morning, he sleepily forced himself awake again, making him worry about his sleeping habits. Once Tails got him to the kitchen, the two of them worked together to make pancakes for breakfast, which was followed by Miles combing his hair once again, and then supervising as he brushed his teeth.

After that, Tails taught how to move objects around in precise ways with the power of the wind, by controlling the force at which wind gets sent out of his palms and making the wind bend around the front of the object to let him hold it telekinetically before bringing it towards him. Tails wasn't sure if he would be able to do it at first, pointing out how suddenly the wind blasts out of his palms and at such a high speed, but Miles was insistent that he could do it if he relaxed, and after some failed attempts where Miles rolled his eyes and shook his head silently, Tails succeeded at last. He was able to get to the point where he could safely bring a tool in his lab to himself by carrying it in a small tornado to him.

Wanting to reward him and perhaps get him to be less grumpy in general, Tails led Miles to a house in the suburbs where there was a violin just like he wanted. " I told you I found one! Great, huh? " Miles stood there stunned for a second before smiling and gently picking it up, saying blissfully, " It's beautiful! Thanks! It looks just like the one I had at home. " Excited, Tails asked him, " So you're really good at the violin, huh? Can you show me? "

There was a silence as Miles looked unhappy and uncomfortable, before saying, " I prefer making music when I'm alone. Having someone else around would distract me. " Looking disappointed as they walked out of the house together, Tails said, " Oh… "

As Tails followed behind him walking away from the house through a grassy field, Miles told him, " I'll be taking an hour out of every day to practice with it, so hopefully you'll be able to handle being alone for an hour every afternoon. " Tails said sadly, " It's fine… " lying to avoid an argument, and said with a nervous smile, " I'm just glad you're happy, " thankful that he would be less grumpy in general from getting to do something he enjoyed every day.

Miles was delighted to have a violin for himself again, only to spend more time leaving Tails alone because of it, which caused Tails to half-regret doing that for him to begin with. " _I wonder if I should've kept my mouth shut…_ " he thought as he walked home with Miles, disappointed that he was apparently too shy to play any music in front of him.

Trying to distract himself from the returning loneliness as Miles spent an hour every day from then on playing the violin in a locked room, Tails started constructing a bed for Miles to sleep in, wishing he was there. When that was done, Tails moved onto his next big project, a large object carrier on wheels designed to pick up and carry a piano and then a mattress, blankets and a pillow to bring them all home. When that was finished, he would renovate the house to make another bedroom because Miles didn't want to sleep in the same room as him. When that was finished, he built two back seats for the plane in front of the trunk. Tails was satisfied at all the engineering he got to do, and appreciated how Miles was at least still agreeing to help him out with most of it and even growing to appreciate and respect his engineering talent, but he was still sad that Miles was spending less time with him because of his music practice.

Whenever he found himself alone for the hour – and for two hours when he got him his piano – he spent that time alone not getting the benefit of his company as much as he did before, and as his frustration with it continued to resurface, he started to focus more on what bothered him about Miles and resent him for it. His patience with him was wearing thin. But he couldn't just tell him what was bothering him and expect the problem to be fixed, because he knew how much Miles loved being able to play music every day, and he was indeed in a better mood in general from being able to do that; he still spent most of the day deadpan and sarcastic to him, but at least he was smiling and even chuckling and joking around lightheartedly on occasion. He couldn't tell him to stop or force him to play in front of him with what he could only assume was stage fright, Miles was too stubborn about those things to agree to that. And he had no way of knowing if telling him what was bothering him would fix the problem.

As the days went by and he recovered from the months of isolation, finally able to think clearly again, Tails started to become more and more likely to get outright annoyed with Miles rather than tolerating him and blindly appreciating his presence, something that Miles only responded to by insulting him defensively, once responding, " You know, you used to be more polite. I suppose that was just a temporary ruse to lure me into your home… " getting Tails annoyed with him for thinking he was the victim.

Two weeks after Tails had found Miles in Empty Mobius, he finally reached the point where he couldn't mindlessly obey his every order anymore, even if his " orders " were all to ensure he would remain in good health. For the first time, he refused to finish eating the meal Miles had worked on with him, leaving the broccoli soup three-quarters of the way done. Looking up from his own soup, Miles questioned in annoyance with a cocked eyebrow, " What are you doing? Why are you getting up? " Tails deadpanned, " I'm full, " as he stood up from the kitchen table and pushed his chair in, being too annoyed to care about elaborating any further. " So? It's good for you! " Miles said in confused irritation, not seeming to understand the concept.

" You know what else was good for me? Every other meal you made me eat! I think I've already had enough ' healthy meals ' to last a lifetime! Whatever happened to the really tasty dishes that weren't necessarily nutritious, like chili dogs, I haven't had those in ages! " Tails ranted at him, letting out what he had been holding back for a long time. " Now hold on a minute, I give you ice cream every single day, isn't that _enough_ junk food for you? Do you have _any_ idea how much of a brat you sound like right now?! " Miles said in frustration as he stood up from the kitchen table and walked up to him angrily.

Tails snapped at him, " How am I the brat when you insist on me doing everything you say exactly as you say so?! And when you don't get your own way - when I don't do what _you_ want - you flip out on me! Or treat me like I'm pathetic! Constantly shaking your head at me and talking to me in resignation and, if _anyone's_ the spoiled brat here, it's you! You haven't spoiled me at all! " Miles scoffed and he exclaimed defensively, stammering while looking nervous and unsure at certain points, " Excuse me?! I-I-I'm not spoiled! How the hell can I be spoiled when I never even had parents?! I-I mean, I had parental _figures,_ and they were, _understanding_ and accommodating of me, but not, well, they _were_ lenient, but, SHUT UP! "

Tails rolled his eyes at him and said, " You can't even take criticism without yelling at people for it! " Miles yelled, " I took nothing but criticism my _entire_ _life,_ and I barely visibly react to it most of the time! You don't know me at all! " " I know that you're an oversensitive _control freak_ who always acts condescending and expects me to do everything you want! " Tails shouted at him. Miles' eye twitched at the eighth word and he shouted furiously, " What did you call me?! " shaking with rage. If Tails hadn't been so annoyed with him and absorbed in letting out his pent-up frustration, he would've been intimidated and started dreading Miles attacking him in retribution.

" You heard me! You're controlling! No wonder you went with the Suppression Squad and Scourge taking over your world! It's constant with you! You won't even let me comb my own hair or _bathe_ myself because you say I won't do it well enough. Can't I ever get a break from you?! " Tails shouted in exasperation. Miles took a second looking upset before stammering angrily, " I-It's not like I _like_ taking care of you or anything! I do it to keep you _alive!_ Whatever happened to all the appreciation I got? I-I don't even _like_ you! " with sadness in his eyes as they darted around the room.

" I'm _so_ sick of this from you! If you hate being around me so much, then why don't you just LEAVE?! " Tails said quickly before shouting the last couple words impulsively. There was a stunned silence from Miles, his eyes widened and his expression devoid of anger, and Tails took that as him giving up on the argument and stormed off to his lab three seconds later, frustrated and hoping he would leave him alone.

It was because of his leaving that Tails failed to realize how devastated he was. Tears were welling up in his eyes and he blinked rapidly and irregularly to fight them back, trembling as he kept being reminded of all the times people from his home island would tell him they wanted him to leave, with him hearing hateful voices in his head of all ages and genders shouting things like, " Get off our island! " " You're not wanted here! " and, " No one likes you, freak! Stay away from us! " As he was so absorbed in memories that he failed to see or hear anything going on around him with a thunderstorm starting and raging on outside his window reflecting a whirlwind of negative emotions from him spiraling out of control, it eventually ended off with him remembering the landslide that claimed the lives of the Suppression Squad and left him alone, the reason he came to that dimension in the first place.

Having a nervous breakdown from the stress of it all, Miles thought while looking miserable and progressively angrier, " _First my parents rejected me, and then Scourge left me, multiple times, and then the rest of my family did, I lost them too! Everyone I love leaves me! And now… Even HE doesn't want me around! I'm not wanted anywhere! That, that bastard! That bully! Screw him, I don't care! I'll just leave! Let's see how HE likes it, being abandoned!_ "

So overwhelmed by emotions and flashbacks that he wasn't thinking straight, shaking uncontrollably as strong winds roared outside, Miles stormed off to his room, put all of his clothes from the closet in a suitcase after folding them, closed the suitcase and stormed out of the house with it in his backpack. Sending wind out of his palms with a force push behind him, he started running away with a tornado blasting him forwards at high speeds. He didn't care that he was running out into the worst thunderstorm that the world he was in had ever had, he only wanted to run away, and he wasn't sure where to.


	6. Chapter 6

When Tails discovered by the next morning that Miles was nowhere to be found, he gasped sharply and started shouting his name in vain, running all over the house looking for him as he deeply regretted snapping at him. " Miles! MILES! " he exclaimed, running all around his house in desperation. He knew full well that he couldn't handle being completely alone for too long, especially not when he just had company in an otherwise empty world. If he wanted to be able to survive for long without going insane from loneliness, he had to find Miles, and fast.

Tails tried not to panic, staying calm as he flew his plane several kilometers away from his house, having no idea where Miles could've gone or how far away he might be at that point, with his only hope of catching up to him with his head start being that he would stop every so often to rest. He would stay up all night if it increased his chances of finding him.

Finally, after an entire day of searching relentlessly, Tails gasped at seeing a familiar motionless figure on the ground below him. It was Miles. He was lying at the bottom of a rocky cliff unconscious with an injured ankle, completely covered in bruises and cuts.

Terrified that he might have been too late, Tails landed the biplane in a hurry and ran up to him using the wind technique he was taught by him, kneeled at his side and placed his hand across his chest, discovering to his relief that he was still alive. He was still breathing, and his heartbeat, while rapid from stress, was still there.

" How did this happen?! I-I'm so sorry, Miles!... It's okay. I'll take you home! I'll apologize to you later, " he said sadly, forcing himself not to cry as he very carefully lifted him up from beneath his chest and knees and carried him in his arms walking towards his plane. After several seconds of carrying his own weight, he finally placed him lying down in the two new back seats of his plane, being very careful not to damage his ankle even further as he moved it.

After elevating his injured ankle with his folded lab coat beneath it and wrapped around it, he quickly dabbed Miles' various cuts with a disinfectant-covered wet nap from the First Aid Kit he had in the plane's trunk, and put band-aids on all of them before strapping himself into the front seat and taking off with the plane, flying carefully since Miles couldn't have a seatbelt on in his position. He showed no signs of stirring from his slumber, aside from the worried and anxious look on his face, but after thinking about it more, Tails remembered that it had been there since he found him in the first place.

When he finally got him home, Tails quickly made a stretcher for him while using his wind manipulation powers to move a lot faster than normal, carefully lifted him onto it trying not to move his ankle too much, and got him to his bed, cautiously lifting him up and slowly putting him in it. With that, he put a pillow beneath his broken ankle to elevate it and covered him over with the blankets, before bringing a chair from the kitchen to his bedside and sitting at it to watch over him.

The wait for him to wake up was agonizing, with Tails internally insulting himself stewing in guilt the whole time as he waited at his bedside twiddling his thumbs. When Miles finally slowly opened his eyes groaning, realizing he was lying in a comfortable bed with his aching ankle elevated and bandaged, Tails immediately apologized frantically, " I'm SO sorry, Miles! I'm sorry! Here, I got you home and all fixed up. You'll be all better soon! Of course I still want you around. I, just, I'm sorry! This is all my fault for snapping at you! I should've just told you what was wrong earlier instead of, bottling everything up… until I snapped. I'm not like that. I wouldn't blame you if you _slapped_ me for it! I deserve it at this point… I'm sorry… " Miles looked stunned, sadly staring at him for several seconds. At last, he said sadly, " You're apologizing to me?... You… I owe _you_ one more than anything… "

Showing humility with his head hung low at first, he hesitated nervously not knowing where to begin, before he looked him in the eyes sincerely and apologized, " I am truly sorry that I left you… I promise I'll never abandon you again! I know what it's like to be abandoned, so if I was thinking straight at the time, I wouldn't have even considered it! Even to you! My old enemy! I was so upset over what you said that I would've done the same thing as my parents, even if it was for a different reason, over a stupid fight… I… I was just so caught up in all my emotions because I thought you didn't want me around and I've already had to deal with being unwanted as it _is,_ I-I-I mean… " As Tails stared at him overwhelmed with sympathy, trying to hold himself together, Miles sighed with downcast eyes, embarrassed at everything he was revealing, before looking him in the eyes again saying,

" I'm sorry. I'm… I'm sorry I ran away from your home, I'm sorry I came off like a jerk, and I'm sorry I called you my servant… I only said that because it was expected of me at that point, and I didn't want to look weak. The truth is… you never _were_ my servant. And I was never your ' master. ' I'm your caretaker, your teacher, your… your friend, in, every sense of the word… not necessarily a good friend, due to how stressed out I am and, leftover resentment, but we're friends nevertheless. I know how it feels to be left alone by someone I care about, and, grow resentful and lash out at him because of it. That's exactly what happened between me and Scourge!... I-I mean, Scourge and I… I should've known this would happen, but I thought only two hours in the day would be fine. I didn't realize how lonely you had become – and you have every excuse to be that way!… I'll try to stop being disrespectful of you. I _promise_ I'll never leave you again!... And, well, I suppose I could try my music practice with, you around, if I must. It's a shame I won't be able to while I recover, however. I won't even be able to get up to… do, anything, really… I-Isn't there any way you can make this faster? "

Looking a little excited and nervous at the same time, Tails said with a smile, " Sure! This is as good a time as any for me to try making nanobots that can heal injuries like this! After all, the sooner you recover, the better. " Miles smiled warmly at him, with nervousness in his eyes from uncertainty, and replied, " I knew I could count on you. "

After a brief silence where Tails smiled at him, Miles looked around nervously before asking him unhappily, " So when a portal to your own dimension finally shows up for you… what are your plans for me? " There was another silence as Tails looked at him in confusion, before saying, " I'd take you with me, of course! I would never leave you here all alone! What if you get sick or seriously injured? And even if that didn't happen, you'd go insane from loneliness! Leaving you here just wouldn't be right. Especially since, well, I probably wouldn't still be alive if it weren't for you… Without you making sure I got fed and taken care of, I would've gotten really sick or, starved by this point, the way things were going… "

" Right. So… what then? " Miles responded melancholically, looking annoyed. " Well… to be honest, I'd really like it if we stayed friends for good. You'd be a _great_ Freedom Fighter, especially with all the cool weather powers you have! I know it's easier said than done. I-I know it'd take a while for you to feel like you belong, and it'd be hard for my friends to learn to trust you, but anything's better than going back to being alone… I don't blame you if you want to keep breaking the law. It's what you're used to doing, after all. Whether you decide to join the Freedom Fighters or not is up to you. I'm just telling you what I'd love to happen, that's all… " Tails answered sadly with a nervous smile, knowing full well what his reaction would be. Miles looked conflicted, his eyes darting around as he seemed to be deeply considering it and worrying about the consequences of doing so. At the very least, the fact that he didn't immediately refuse meant there was hope.

Finally, he replied reluctantly, " I… suppose I wouldn't have a choice. You're right, having a friend to support me has undeniable advantages, and it would be unwise to sacrifice them for any reason. So… fine, I'll help you out in your ' heroism, ' but I won't be happy… Of course, I'm not even happy _here,_ so. I'll always have to cope with being miserable… I-I'm sorry I'm depressing you. I tend to do that a lot. I should be thanking you for being so kind. Not many people would give me such an offer. " Tails looked worried, and only managed to smile a little at the end from the sheer impact of Miles being polite and grateful at the end. " You're welcome, Miles. I'll get started on those healing nanobots right away! If there's anything you need, I'll help you, because that's what friends are for, " Tails said kindly, and then left the room as Miles stared at him sadly with guilt and regret in his eyes.

Later, after Miles had fallen asleep, Tails sat on his bed and placed one hand on Miles' right arm to hold it down slightly while he used his other hand to give him a needle, which contained water full of nanobots meant to fix his ankle. Unfortunately, pricking Miles with a needle immediately startled him awake, and Tails was quickly thankful that he had been holding down his arm sitting beside him, as Miles jerked upwards with a jolt gasping. " Relax! " Tails said reassuringly with a nervous smile, but before he could continue to explain, Miles whimpered hysterically, " No, no, no! Not again! " and started trembling uncontrollably with his pupils shrunken into tiny dots, a haunted expression on his face. Glad that he had already finished, Tails pulled the empty syringe away from him and tossed it over his shoulder looking concerned, and asked him, " It's okay, it's okay! It was full of nanobots that would fix your ankle. Miles!... What's wrong?! " to no avail, as he didn't even seem to hear him.

Tails placed his hand on his shoulder as he sat beside him, unaware of the terrifying flashbacks Miles was being flooded with all at once, assaulted with vivid memories of jeering bullies running after him with syringes full of poison or tranquilizer, with the leader of one group of them mockingly saying to him, " What's the _matter,_ mutant?! You're late for your vaccine! We're not gonna _hurt_ you! " The instant Tails had sent the needle into him, he had been overwhelmed with fear at the memory of a bully tackling him to the ground and injecting him with a syringe full of tranquilizer, causing him to attack with his tails and kick him off him, sending him rolling backwards into a tree, which stunned him for long enough that he was able to pull himself to his feet and run away from him with progressively fading strength and stamina.

The stress from his rapidly pounding heart was only making the tranquilizer work faster as it was sent throughout his body, until eventually he became so tired and delirious that he tripped and fell down a rocky cliff, passing out, where he would wake up to being kidnapped by a man who would consistently slap him, insult him, and ignore him as stress relief out of spite for " tricking " him into giving him life-saving first aid by unconsciously hiding his second tail beneath his first. He had been kept tied up in a windowless washroom in his basement, only given the minimum amount of food and water to stay alive and having nothing to do for hours on end as he recovered, the only mental stimulation he had being the times when he was " visited " by the one who tortured him with a tape of horrible sounds. He had been miserable, and at the same time, he hated himself out of guilt for not fully appreciating the fact that someone was actually trying to keep him alive for once. He didn't want that to happen again, being only taken care of by someone from the sunken cost fallacy, barely kept alive out of spite.

It was because of his past experiences that the mere sight of a syringe sent him into a panic attack that rendered him hysterical, unaware of what was happening around him. All he wanted to do was run and hide, but he was painfully aware of how his broken ankle would make that impossible, knowing even in his current state that his ankle was in too much pain to even allow him to stand on it.

After an entire minute of Tails stroking his back to reassure him with his other hand on his shoulder, he decided to take the risk and embraced him in a hug, and he must have been aware of that on some subconscious level, as the hug caused him to relax his shoulders and slowly stop trembling at last. Unfortunately, the overwhelming fear combined with his body believing it had just been tranquilized again caused him to lose consciousness, closing his eyes as his vision was obscured by a red haze. Tails nervously let go of him and let him lie down on his back again as he passed out from fright, and sighed sadly, feeling incredibly sorry for him. " What did they _do_ to you? " he whispered as he quietly left the room.

The next day, Miles woke up, at 7 in the morning for once, and rolled out of bed to stand up and walk out of his room absentmindedly, going in and then out of the washroom combing his hair and whatnot, only to finally realize in his tired haze that he should've had a broken ankle and been unable to stand at all. Confused and bewildered, he ran into the kitchen where Tails was eagerly waiting at the table and questioned nervously, " Why isn't my ankle injured? Not that I'm complaining, but I've never healed this fast! "

With a great big smile that made him look cute even to him, Tails said, " I fixed it, of course! I built some nanobots and sent them to help you! Don't worry, they should be out of your system by now. " Deep down, he was worried about him for not remembering him giving him the needle, but he decided not to bring it up or even make it obvious that he had given him a needle in the first place. The last thing he needed was to set him off again. To his relief, Miles didn't suspect a thing, smiling at him rather than inquiring into how he could've gotten those nanobots inside of him. " Thank you, " he said with a pleased voice and genuine smile of respect. " I'm glad you're an engineer, " he added without thinking, only to look embarrassed and get straight to making breakfast with him to try and distract him.

It was clear that his time spent with Tails had caused him to gain a whole new appreciation for him being an engineer, and finally admitting that to him was an important step in the right direction for their friendship going from exhausting and difficult to a healthy and happy one. He was polite to him most of the time after that day, respecting him and finding him too endearing to have the heart to intentionally mistreat him anymore, and Tails found him more likable to be around as a result, even if he was still his old bitter, stressed out and negative self.

It was because of this improved relationship between them that when Tails experienced the third lightning storm in a row that week, Miles for the first time came to his room upon hearing him scream in fear at the booming thunder, when every other time before that, he had left him alone in his room. While he was certainly awkward about looking soft in front of him, he knew that if he didn't repay him for his generosity by comforting him, he would feel even worse, and be unable to sleep at all. So he opened the door to his room quietly and asked, " Are you okay? " in a whispered reluctant voice, staring at Tails shaking in his bed in the dark having the blankets pulled over his head.

When he didn't get a response, Miles sighed, and closed the door behind him, and slowly walked towards the bed as he asked him carefully, " Would you feel better if I, well, stayed with you?... If you weren't alone? " until he finally reached his bed and sat down on it beside him. Tails wanted to look brave in front of him, lying, " I-I'm not scared, I just, I'm, cold! " as he trembled uncontrollably. The loud sound of thunder booming right outside his window startled him into jumping with a yelp, his fur standing on end, causing him to look away from Miles ashamed of himself. Understanding how he felt, Miles said with his arms wide open, " Well then, um, allow me to warm you up, " with a shy smile on his face.

After an anxiety-inducing second, Tails hugged him for comfort at last, and Miles laid down with him in the warm soft bed for the rest of the night, caressing the back and top of his head with one hand while having his other arm around him to hold him close, the two of them having their tails wrapped around each other for the same purpose. They knew how new and unusual it was for them to be doing that, but didn't entirely care, with Tails wanting to be comforted during a terrifying storm, Miles wanting to repay him and show someone affection and compassion while being held himself, and with both of them being happy at the night solidifying their improved friendship.

From that moment on, Miles could no longer deny that he had begun to see Tails as a younger brother, a sweet and naïve twin, moving on from only seeing him as the version of himself that was far luckier and happier than he was. He could finally regard him with appreciation and affection rather than bitter jealousy, and respect him without feeling insecure himself. Just as he did when they first met, the child reminded him of himself when he was young and innocent, but that just made him want to protect him more, showing him the consideration and comfort that he never got when he was all alone. In that sense, he would be righting what went wrong, rather than acting like a bully and being disgusted with himself in the end.

He wondered as he soothed Tails to sleep if this really did mean he was going soft, and if this meant he would have an easier transition to acting like a hero to fit in with the Freedom Fighters, and while he wasn't entirely comfortable with the slight loss of identity from doing that, he decided to push it out of his mind for the time being. After all, he didn't know how long it would take in Empty Mobius time for him and Tails to have a portal for them appear at all; for all he knew, it could be months away, so worrying about having to struggle for acceptance and beg for forgiveness would only stress him out unnecessarily.

Instead, he focused on the present, on appreciating life as he had it. He was trapped in a dimension where almost everything he would accomplish would be meaningless, as the only other person on it with him was Tails, so everything he did in it felt empty and hollow, except for the things he did for him. He kept him alive and took care of him, and as he began to get over his stage fright of playing music with him around, it became the highlight of his day, but he wanted something more. And months later, he would eventually get exactly that, although it wouldn't be easy.

A week later, Miles walked into his room one morning wondering why he hadn't gone out for his breakfast yet. Tails was lying in his bed with his eyes closed looking upset, causing Miles to look worried as he carried a plate of eggs and toast into the room for him. He took off his glove unhappily and placed his hand on his forehead just in case, and discovered that it was feeling unusually warm. He had a fever. Miles then placed his hand on Tails' arm, and confirmed that the rest of his body was cold. He had to take care of him for days while he recovered, placing wet washcloths on his forehead and warm blankets to make him feel better.

He kept true to his word; he was polite to him from then on. He continued taking care of him more than necessary, being overprotective and coddling as if he was overcompensating for the lack of love and neglect he had received. But with him being polite to him and spending most of his time with him, it didn't bother Tails much, and when he finally started playing music in front of him and opening up to him, it broke past his defenses and he at last managed to warm up to him, softening up as he started treating him with the same kind of affection as an older brother did. He was still sensitive and unhappy and easily frustrated, but in spite of that, their friendship improved significantly.


End file.
